Zuma's MK party challenges 2024 election results in Electoral Court
via The Citizen14 min read
Former president Jacob Zuma's MK party has approached the Electoral Court to contest the results of the 2024 national and provincial elections. The party argues that a two-hour blackout of the Electoral Commission of South Africa's IEC live results dashboard during the counting process may have compromised the integrity of the polls. The MK party's legal team, led by advocate Thabani Masuku, contended that the court should hear oral evidence from technical experts regarding the outage, suggesting it was an intervention rather than a system failure. The party seeks to have the 2024 general election outcome set aside and a new election date proclaimed within 90 days. The IEC's advocate, Wim Trengrove, countered that the MK party is misusing litigation norms, highlighting a prior unsuccessful application before the Constitutional Court. IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo stated the commission is satisfied with the evidence presented, including system logs, to demonstrate the results system was not compromised. Mamabolo also expressed confidence in the court's determination and affirmed the MK party's constitutional right to litigate, while encouraging their supporters to register and vote in upcoming local government elections. The MK party emerged as the third-largest party in the 2024 polls, securing 15% of the national votes.
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